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The Houston Astros owned the laziest pun name in all of sports for the last six years: the Lastros. Because they would always finish last. Simple, concise, and oh so accurate. An entire cul-de-sac of Jon Bois's wonderful GIF Oracle was dedicated to the Astros' tomfoolery on the field. The Astros won 56 games in 2011 and finished last. They won 55 games in 2012 and finished last. They won 51 games in 2013 and finished last, and honestly, MLB should have invented some special category beyond last place for that team. They should have been Thunderdomed right out of the game.
But in 2014 they finished...not last. That team won 70 games and avoided the cellar of the AL West. Behind the unearthing of solid pitching, the promotion of some exciting rookies, and clusters of home runs, the 2014 Astros actually looked like a baseball team, at times.
The 2015 Astros are doing the same thing, but more. More talented rookies. Better pitching. A better record (36-28 and first in the AL West). And dingers dingers dingers.
The Astros lead the league in home runs with 85. Third baseman Luis Valbuena has 14, despite hitting just .185 overall. Chris Carter has swatted 11 after hitting 37 last year. George Springer, after hitting 20 in 78 games in his rookie season last year, "only" has eight, but his power is big time. Even pint-sized Jose Altuve has five round-trippers. Up and down the lineup you see guys who can hit the ball a long, long way, when they manage to get some wood on it at all.
Which can be a problem for them. Their strikeout percentage is 24.7 percent, which is second highest in MLB, just a tick behind the Cubs. These guys swing from their heels and either hit the ball to Mars or walk back to the bench. It sounds equal parts fun and frustrating.
Actually, I take that back, it sounds way more fun than frustrating. Astros fans get to watch a slew of young studly players on a daily basis now. There's the aforementioned Springer. Short stop Carlos Correa, one of the top prospects in the game, just debuted a week ago. Altuve is a hit machine. Top pitching prospect Vincent Velasquez just made his MLB debut after dominating Double-A. These guys are young and exciting.
Astros Hitters
| Name | G | PA | HR | R | RBI | SB | BB% | K% | ISO | BABIP | AVG | OBP | SLG | wOBA | wRC+ | BsR | Off | Def | WAR |
| George Springer | 58 | 252 | 8 | 30 | 21 | 13 | 14.30% | 26.20% | 0.179 | 0.336 | 0.259 | 0.367 | 0.439 | 0.355 | 131 | 3.5 | 12.1 | -4.1 | 1.8 |
| Jose Altuve | 61 | 268 | 5 | 27 | 27 | 17 | 5.60% | 10.10% | 0.105 | 0.306 | 0.29 | 0.33 | 0.395 | 0.31 | 99 | 0.3 | -0.1 | 3.7 | 1.3 |
| Jason Castro | 46 | 169 | 7 | 17 | 15 | 0 | 8.30% | 25.40% | 0.191 | 0.262 | 0.224 | 0.296 | 0.414 | 0.312 | 100 | -0.1 | -0.1 | 4.4 | 1.1 |
| Jed Lowrie | 18 | 74 | 4 | 11 | 10 | 1 | 16.20% | 20.30% | 0.267 | 0.341 | 0.3 | 0.432 | 0.567 | 0.418 | 175 | 0.9 | 7 | 0.3 | 1.1 |
| Colby Rasmus | 54 | 184 | 8 | 23 | 20 | 1 | 9.80% | 33.70% | 0.236 | 0.344 | 0.248 | 0.321 | 0.485 | 0.348 | 126 | 0.8 | 6.1 | -2.5 | 1 |
| Chris Carter | 62 | 245 | 11 | 25 | 31 | 1 | 13.90% | 33.90% | 0.196 | 0.274 | 0.206 | 0.327 | 0.402 | 0.324 | 109 | 0.3 | 2.7 | -5.7 | 0.5 |
| Hank Conger | 25 | 81 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 14.80% | 25.90% | 0.191 | 0.25 | 0.206 | 0.325 | 0.397 | 0.323 | 108 | 0.3 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.4 |
| Jake Marisnick | 58 | 187 | 4 | 20 | 19 | 10 | 4.30% | 26.70% | 0.139 | 0.311 | 0.243 | 0.28 | 0.382 | 0.287 | 83 | 1.5 | -2.1 | -0.9 | 0.3 |
| Luis Valbuena | 56 | 234 | 14 | 33 | 26 | 1 | 7.70% | 21.80% | 0.227 | 0.169 | 0.185 | 0.256 | 0.412 | 0.292 | 86 | -0.6 | -4.2 | -0.5 | 0.3 |
| Preston Tucker | 29 | 102 | 2 | 12 | 10 | 0 | 8.80% | 19.60% | 0.163 | 0.314 | 0.261 | 0.333 | 0.424 | 0.333 | 115 | 0 | 1.7 | -2.8 | 0.2 |
| Carlos Correa | 6 | 26 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 3.80% | 30.80% | 0.28 | 0.267 | 0.24 | 0.269 | 0.52 | 0.339 | 119 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.2 |
| Evan Gattis | 61 | 241 | 12 | 30 | 39 | 0 | 4.10% | 24.10% | 0.218 | 0.261 | 0.236 | 0.266 | 0.454 | 0.308 | 97 | -1.1 | -1.9 | -6.2 | 0 |
| Jonathan Villar | 38 | 105 | 1 | 12 | 7 | 4 | 7.60% | 25.70% | 0.105 | 0.353 | 0.263 | 0.317 | 0.368 | 0.303 | 94 | -0.9 | -1.7 | -2.1 | 0 |
| Marwin Gonzalez | 42 | 141 | 3 | 15 | 15 | 1 | 2.10% | 22.00% | 0.132 | 0.255 | 0.213 | 0.23 | 0.346 | 0.25 | 57 | -2 | -8.8 | 1.7 | -0.3 |
| Robbie Grossman | 24 | 54 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 9.30% | 31.50% | 0.102 | 0.194 | 0.143 | 0.222 | 0.245 | 0.215 | 32 | 0.6 | -3.5 | -1.1 | -0.3 |
On the pitching side of things, Dallas Keuchel is having a phenomenal season, as is Lance McCullers. Velasquez didn't allow a run in his one start. The Rockies let Collin McHugh get away, and he has turned into a dependable starter for the Astros. The Astros rank a solid ninth in the majors in ERA.
Astros Pitchers
| Name | W | L | SV | GS | IP | K/9 | BB/9 | HR/9 | BABIP | LOB% | GB% | HR/FB | ERA | FIP | xFIP | WAR |
| Dallas Keuchel | 7 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 94.2 | 6.85 | 2.28 | 0.38 | 0.235 | 81.80% | 64.20% | 9.80% | 1.9 | 2.89 | 2.95 | 2.3 |
| Lance McCullers | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 36 | 10 | 2.5 | 0.25 | 0.241 | 77.40% | 47.70% | 3.20% | 2 | 2.33 | 3.17 | 1.1 |
| Josh Fields | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 15.88 | 4.24 | 0 | 0.321 | 76.50% | 46.40% | 0.00% | 2.12 | 0.99 | 1.97 | 0.6 |
| Scott Feldman | 4 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 60 | 5.55 | 2.1 | 1.05 | 0.318 | 66.50% | 49.70% | 15.20% | 4.8 | 4.09 | 3.64 | 0.6 |
| Collin McHugh | 6 | 3 | 0 | 13 | 79.2 | 7 | 1.81 | 1.36 | 0.321 | 70.70% | 45.00% | 13.60% | 5.08 | 4.37 | 3.95 | 0.6 |
| Brett Oberholtzer | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 20 | 5.85 | 4.05 | 0 | 0.323 | 76.70% | 51.60% | 0.00% | 2.25 | 3.15 | 4.48 | 0.5 |
| Will Harris | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29.2 | 10.31 | 2.12 | 0.91 | 0.086 | 100.00% | 54.10% | 17.60% | 0.91 | 2.93 | 2.42 | 0.4 |
| Joe Thatcher | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 13.2 | 11.2 | 3.29 | 0 | 0.353 | 82.40% | 47.10% | 0.00% | 1.98 | 1.71 | 2.84 | 0.3 |
| Tony Sipp | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 22.2 | 10.32 | 1.59 | 1.19 | 0.241 | 83.30% | 41.80% | 12.50% | 2.38 | 3.19 | 2.95 | 0.3 |
| Roberto Hernandez | 2 | 5 | 0 | 11 | 70 | 4.63 | 2.57 | 1.16 | 0.301 | 62.50% | 52.30% | 13.00% | 4.89 | 4.65 | 4.35 | 0.2 |
| Luke Gregerson | 2 | 1 | 15 | 0 | 25 | 10.08 | 2.16 | 1.44 | 0.286 | 67.00% | 57.60% | 21.10% | 4.32 | 3.66 | 2.64 | 0.2 |
| Asher Wojciechowski | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 16 | 9 | 3.94 | 1.13 | 0.396 | 62.50% | 20.40% | 7.70% | 7.31 | 4.04 | 4.68 | 0.1 |
| Chad Qualls | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 21.1 | 9.28 | 1.69 | 1.27 | 0.288 | 64.20% | 71.70% | 30.00% | 5.06 | 3.71 | 2.54 | 0.1 |
| Vincent Velasquez | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 7.2 | 0 | 0.273 | 100.00% | 27.30% | 0.00% | 0 | 3.5 | 5.18 | 0.1 |
| Brad Peacock | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 5.4 | 3.6 | 0 | 0.313 | 62.50% | 31.30% | 0.00% | 5.4 | 3.7 | 5.38 | 0.1 |
| Pat Neshek | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 22.1 | 8.06 | 0.81 | 1.61 | 0.196 | 87.70% | 33.90% | 12.90% | 2.82 | 3.91 | 3.52 | 0 |
| Kevin Chapman | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.1 | 13.5 | 5.06 | 1.69 | 0.3 | 89.30% | 18.20% | 14.30% | 3.38 | 4.23 | 3.62 | 0 |
| Michael Feliz | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0.333 | 100.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0 | 1.1 | 3.89 | 0 |
| Jake Buchanan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0.154 | 93.00% | 57.70% | 14.30% | 2 | 5.1 | 4.74 | -0.1 |
| Samuel Deduno | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 21 | 7.29 | 3.86 | 1.29 | 0.328 | 62.90% | 47.00% | 16.70% | 6.86 | 5.06 | 4.39 | -0.2 |
Probable pitchers
Monday: Chad Bettis vs. Dallas Keuchel
Tuesday: Chris Rusin vs. Vincent Velasquez
Wednesday: Kyle Kendrick vs. Brett Oberholtzer
Thursday: TBA vs. Collin McHugh